Mutual Fund Checklist for Beginners
There are many ways to select a mutual fund, each one has its own ups, downs, and risks. As you select your first mutual fund, consider these factors:
The fund manager: Often a fund is only as good as its management. If the fund manager has shown great performance in the past, future performance is likely to be above average. If the fund manager has been replaced, past performance becomes less meaningful and may even be worthless. A poor-performing fund that gets a new fund manager may turn around and become a top performer.
The size of the fund: Good fund candidates have at least $75 million under management and should be large enough to keep up with institutional investors. At the opposite end of the spectrum, funds with more than $40 billion tend to have problems with being too large.
The objectives of the fund: Some funds focus on specialty or sector funds (gold funds or biotech funds) and often offer great returns. However, they arent good funds for the online investor who wants to own just one mutual fund. If you own just one specialty fund, you lose the advantage of diversification.
The objectives of the fund: Some funds focus on specialty or sector funds (gold funds or biotech funds) and often offer great returns. However, they arent good funds for the online investor who wants to own just one mutual fund. If you own just one specialty fund, you lose the advantage of diversification.
The stability of the funds philosophy: If the fund seems unclear about its financial goals and is switching investment methods, it may be in trouble. The financial goals of the fund is highly important, unstable goals can be a bad sign but also in a poor performing fund that just replaced the fund manager can be a good sign.
Purchase constraints: Although some funds require a minimum initial investment of $5,000.00, many good funds dont have this requirement. If you enroll in a funds automatic investment program, the minimum initial investment amount is usually waived. Additionally, many fund minimums are waived or substantially reduced for IRA investments. If you are not starting out with a large sum to invest check out the ones that waive the minimum initial investment amount; I started out investing using an online stock account with a $100.00 minimum, it got me started and I learned a lot. - 23196
The fund manager: Often a fund is only as good as its management. If the fund manager has shown great performance in the past, future performance is likely to be above average. If the fund manager has been replaced, past performance becomes less meaningful and may even be worthless. A poor-performing fund that gets a new fund manager may turn around and become a top performer.
The size of the fund: Good fund candidates have at least $75 million under management and should be large enough to keep up with institutional investors. At the opposite end of the spectrum, funds with more than $40 billion tend to have problems with being too large.
The objectives of the fund: Some funds focus on specialty or sector funds (gold funds or biotech funds) and often offer great returns. However, they arent good funds for the online investor who wants to own just one mutual fund. If you own just one specialty fund, you lose the advantage of diversification.
The objectives of the fund: Some funds focus on specialty or sector funds (gold funds or biotech funds) and often offer great returns. However, they arent good funds for the online investor who wants to own just one mutual fund. If you own just one specialty fund, you lose the advantage of diversification.
The stability of the funds philosophy: If the fund seems unclear about its financial goals and is switching investment methods, it may be in trouble. The financial goals of the fund is highly important, unstable goals can be a bad sign but also in a poor performing fund that just replaced the fund manager can be a good sign.
Purchase constraints: Although some funds require a minimum initial investment of $5,000.00, many good funds dont have this requirement. If you enroll in a funds automatic investment program, the minimum initial investment amount is usually waived. Additionally, many fund minimums are waived or substantially reduced for IRA investments. If you are not starting out with a large sum to invest check out the ones that waive the minimum initial investment amount; I started out investing using an online stock account with a $100.00 minimum, it got me started and I learned a lot. - 23196
About the Author:
Learning how to invest is a challege. Knowledge and information is the key to investing and how to invest to profit and minimize risk.
posted by X - Men @ 3:44 AM
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